No need for Botox at 20, says Dr Evonne Miller

A SOCIAL psychologist says it is  "sad" that women resorted to elective plastic surgery and Botox as early as their 20s because they don't need to.

THE quest for perfection is something that plagues many Queenslanders, young and old.

Whether they use Botox, have liposuction or plastic surgery, or use a solarium, Queenslanders seem to have an obsession with looking like Barbie and Ken.

In 2008 Premier Anna Bligh, 49, admitted to using Botox.

"Like most women I care about my appearance, I dye my hair and I do other things, so what?" she said at the time.

Queensland Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek, 49, also admitted to using Botox in 2003 after he had won pre-selection for the Liberal Party.

But the father of two daughters aged 17 and 20 said he had concerns about young people resorting to medical procedures to enhance their looks.

"It's frightening – they shouldn't be needing it at that age," he said. "I'm not passing judgment on who should or shouldn't be getting it done, but to be having it done at 20 is going a bit too far."

Mr Langbroek said his "one-off" Botox treatment was an "experiment".

The Courier-Mail story about Gold Coast personal assistant Terri-Anne Chapman, 21, using Botox sparked hot debate online.

One couriermail.com reader said "some people my age make me sick – they're so full of vanity, not that I really give a toss what this chick does, but I'm glad I can frown and show all other emotion like a normal human being and not look like a stunned mullet".

Ms Chapman said it was funny people were calling her "fake and superficial".

"They are the ones stereotyping me from one picture and one article," she said.

Social psychologist and senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, Dr Evonne Miller, said it was "sad" women resorted to elective plastic surgery and Botox at such young ages.

She said the media needed to depict a wider range of women as attractive, not just "young, beautiful and wrinkle-free".

"It's concerning that women as young as 20 are having Botox – they don't need it," she said. "Many young women think appearance is all society judges them on and it's sad."

Dr Miller said young women should be raised to believe in themselves and focus on the more important things in life.

"They should be focusing on their family, their friends, and their careers – not preventing wrinkles that they don't even have," she said.

Over the years different Queensland personalities have undertaken a range of procedures to enhance their features.

Former Big Brother contestant Krystal Forscutt, now 23, had a breast enlargement before entering the house in 2006, and Logan councillor Hajnal Ban, 32, travelled to Siberia for a $40,000 operation to stretch her 154cm frame by 8cm.